The Bandits Speak

"Hail, good woman!" The blond bandit shouted as they approached. "It is a rare sight indeed to see a beauty like yourself out so late, and without any guards. Tell me, what brings you this way?"

"I am travelling." Vrasha called out. Her chest was hammering. She could taste the anticipation in her throat. She felt sweaty, as if she could not quite believe what was happening to her. In a sense, she could not. After all, only days before, she had been a princess in a palace, with servants of her own and guards in the dozens.

Now, she stood on her own before three bandits.

"Travelling?" Said the blond. "On your own? That seems strange to me, good lady. You are clearly of noble birth. Your skin is pale and unblemished. Neither scarred with work nor tanned by the sun. You are a noble for sure. And in my experience, nobles tend not to move about on their own."

The way he spoke and the confidence in his voice did seem to indicate to her that he knew a little bit about what he was talking about. The dark haired man fit her mental picture of a bandit perfectly. He was muscular, but crude, with nothing about him that suggested anything other than thug taking advantage of others. But the blond haired man was different. His words were articulate, his voice was refined.

"You speak as thought you have some knowledge of us, good sir!" She said, deciding not to try to hide her origin from one who clearly already knew it. "Can it be that you were once a soldier?"

"An officer!" The man cried. "Though, you speak as though the calling is no longer valid. How know you that I am not an officer still?"

"Because you are a bandit." Vrasha said. "And no officer I know off lurks by hills in the night to waylay travelling women."

"Hah!" The black-haired man laughed. "She's got you there, Cadmus. Let's just end this game and take what we want, shall we? You always like to play with the food."

Cadmus. Vrasha noted down the name for later.

"There is a such thing as being civilised, Vort." Cadmus sighed. " We are not simple beasts, you know. There are rules. Codes that have to be followed."

"No there bloody aren't." Vort said bluntly. "That's why I started raiding in the first place. No code. No law. No one to tell you what to do."

"If you're here to rob me, I am afraid that I cannot offer much." Vrasha said. "I don't have any money. You're right, I am a noble, but my father exiled me on account of my crimes. I have no money with what to pay any sort of ransom, and no one who will pay for me. You can steal what I have, but it is little."

"Oh, I don't know about that" Vort laughed. "Your highborn body will surely fetch us a high price if we make you into a whore! If we sell that treasure between your legs, I imagine we could be quite rich!"

"Crudely put..." Cadmus shook his head. "But not inaccurate."

Vrasha felt her mouth go dry. Even though she knew it was probably coming, the verbalisation of it nearly took her breath away. A whore, her. Someone who was made to have sex with anyone who had the coin. Someone who was at the mercy of these two thugs. A former princess fallen so low... The idea was horrifying and it made her blood turn cold. She **** herself to hold steady, to resist the urge to allow her face to show her emotions, to show weakness.

"Please," Cadmus said. "Dismount your horse. I am sure you may be thinking of trying to run or fight, but let me remind you there are three of us and one of you... It will not go well. At least this way, if you cooperate, you will surely live."